Online Job Seekers in Canada: What Can We Learn from Bing Job Queries?

Labour markets in Canada and around the world are evolving rapidly with the digital economy. Traditional data are adapting gradually but are not yet able to provide timely information on this evolution. Following a methodology developed by Microsoft Research to classify raw search queries using Bing, Microsoft Research and the Bank of Canada jointly produced a geographical classification of job searches conducted in Canada in 2017. In this note, we present the interactive tool showing the job search data, along with demographic and socio-economic characteristics. See also a new post on the Microsoft Research Blog for more details about the methodology. We also highlight some interesting features of the data. For instance, jobs in health care seem more popular with job seekers in areas with greater populations of dependent-age individuals, both young people and seniors. The opposite seems true for jobs in education, which make up a greater proportion of the job searches in areas with a larger prime-age population (those aged 25 to 54). Some jobs display an association with the average level of education among the population: jobs in the fields of business, finance, science and technology appear to be more sought after in areas with a higher average level of education, while jobs in the arts and construction are more sought after in areas with a lower average level of education.

Try our interactive tool that presents job search data alongside socio-economic characteristics